Continuous glass melting tank



Oct. 8, 1935. E. W PAXTON ET AL 2,016,945

CONTINUOUS GLASS Ix'IELTING-TTANK Filed Way 3l. 3.932 2 Shee'tS-Shee l G N N Fic/.l

INVENTORS LQ PMmFWLLQV e BY M44. MSM L.; mi;

ATTORNEY I '5. w. PAXTON ET Al.

oct. s, 1935.

CONTINUOUS GLASS MELTING TANK Filed May 3l, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l DE DDD-UD DDU DDD DDUDDDDD DDD DD DDD INVENTORS 9.4.4. w. QV

W. BY W gw ATTORNEY Patented ct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATE-Nr OFFICEl Elisha w. raxton and minar w. Schmid, washk ington, Pa., assignors to Amco, Incorporated, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 31, 1932, Serial No. 614,432

This invention relates to improvements in tank structures for melting glass ,and more particularlyto glass melting tanks adapted for use in making sheet glass by drawingv or other forms of glassware by continuous process.

'I'he aim of all glass manufacturers isa tank j furnace that will deliver molten glass for working. that shall be continuously land uniformly homogeneous as to chemical composition, temio-perature, specic gravity and age-under-heat.

'I'he usual designs of tank furnaces have, inmany cases, completely failed, or at best have only succeeded at intervals, in producing satisfactorily homogeneous glass. This fact becomes increasi5 ingly important and annoying to the operators of the more and more completely automatic glass working machinery which characterizes modern manufacturing methods. is due to the unvarying physical 'and mechanical characteristics of such machinery, it being much less easily adaptable to variations in the glass than manual operations. Satisfactory production on such machines is possible only during those periods when the tank furnace is delivering homogeneous glass.

Lack of homogeneity in glass gives particularly bad results when operating machines embodying increase of viscosity, due to lack of homogeneity,

cause the formation ofI lines, waves, variations in thickness and other defects in the product, there" by rendering it-unsalable'in whole or in part.

In as much as continuous automatic machine production requires the use of tank-type furnaces [for furnishing a continuous supplyof molten glass, the weaknesses inherent in former designs have come to be regarded as necessary evils?. The more important of these wealmesses are due to the following facts:

Stratification, occurring due to the selective 45,. action of Variations in stage of planing, temperature, and chemical composition with their corresponding variations in the 'specific gravity of the molten glass. l f L 'Ihe vertical temperature gradient, due totop 50 heating which causes simultaneous existence in' the tank of molten glass of wide temperature variations which maybe as much as 100 F'. or more per foot of, ,depth. I

The variation in viscosity of molten glass, in- 55 verselyy (with temperature, is tremendous; .the

viscosity of a certain glass, lfor example, at 2000 F, being 32 times its viscosity at 2500 F., forty-one (41) times its viscosityat 2250 F., etc., while a glass of different chemical composition than that of the example cited will have its own peculiar viscosity characteristics, variations, and ratios.

The" resistance 'of throat apertures, as regards cross'sectional area and length, to flow of highly viscous glass has been too great to permit the lb requisite rate of flow of glass at the temperature and viscosity normally extant at the depth below the surface at'which the throat apertures have f been located.

a point suincient to cause the hotter, less viscous, 20'- I more mobile glass that' is extant and available above the level of the throat aperture in the melting chamber, to dive down below its normal stra.- tum and pass through the said throat aperture.

Progressive' increases in rate of production ul- 25 timately cause diving of the topmost, hottest stratum of glass, resulting in an increase of the l horizontal component of motion towards the working chamber, of said top stratum." Further f lincreases in rate of production merely serve further to increasev horizontal velocities of top stratum glass toward the working chamber with consequent reduction in melting time of the glass batch, which melting time in this'case will be substantially proportional to the quotient of glass bath area divided byv average-horizontal velocity multiplied bythe average depth of said most rapidly movingA top stratum glass, said increases in rate of production nally resulting in seedy unrefined glass flowing through the throat aperture 40 and into the working chamber. 'I'his is practice, it being customary to progressively increase the rate of production until seedy glass appears, ,whereupon it is considered thaty tank melting capacity has been reached, when the rate of production has reached a point where the amount and/or size of seed in the glass becomes objectionable in the product being manufactured. Practically all tank furnaces are designed, rated, built and sold on such abasis, entire freedom from visible seed when the product demandssuch quality being merely a phase of the above out- The temperature of glass moving through the throat aperture as stated above, coming as it does mainly from the highest, hottest strata in the melting chamber, is to high for working and, therefore, space for cooling said glass has had to be provided in the working chamber. It is impossible uniformly to cool such a moving mass of hot glass, or at the same time to keep it all moving at a uniform velocity on accountl of its comparativelylow heat conductivity andtremendous increase in viscosity upon any reduction of its tem- This results in stagnation in such a perature. cooling-and-Working-chamber, and in the delivery of thermally and chronologically heterogen ous glass to the machines; The diving of hot, upper level .glass described above also tends tothe formation of a terrace 'of comparatively stagnant glass in the melting chamber which tends to become old-under-heat with consequent incipient or actual devitriiication. Parts of this terrace continually slough off into the faster moving stream of hotter glass as it dives into the throat aperture, resulting in heterogeneity of the glass stream at this point also. Heated shut downs, with cessation of active ow, permit the terrace to ooze toward the throat aperture, in an attempt to level itself oif Tank furnaces heretofore'have produced their most nearly homogeneous glass only when pro- \duction rate and furnace temperatures have been held constant. Such conditions can only be maintained in actual factory practice for short periods, due to changes inproduction schedules, unavoidable variations in furnace temperatures, shut downs and other causes, unforeseen or otherwise, that will be familiar to those skilled in the art. When it is borne in mind that furnaces are usually operated -to capacity when possible, as Y outlined above, to obtain maximum economy; and when it is clear that any change in furnace temperatures (and especially when upward from normal) heat penetration (and especially when deeper than normal) or production rate (and especially downward from normal) will greatly Y change the delicate flow balance previously established, resulting in the movement of the different seen that a changing proportion of the lower strata glass entering the active iiow will cause serious changes in glass composition and condition at'the machines. Furthermore, it is well known that glass in commercial form is a spercooled, supersaturated solution of several silicates. pressed, when the glass reaches a too great ageunder-heat, devitrication (crystallization of vone When cooling is slow, or as herein exor more of the Ydissolved silicates) becomes inlcipient or actually occurs, the crystals growing from ultra microscopic size to a size easilymvisible to the naked eye. `When this begins to occur, the

viscosity of the glass increases tremenduously, 5

this latter increase being in addition to the normally'great increase in viscosity of glass with reduction in temperature, so that at a given temperature and for a given chemical composition, fresh glass has a far lower viscosity than glass that is old-under-heat. It is this same fact that causes-remelted cullet glass to be notoriously stiff Working and gummy Several renrelts of cullet glass alone always result in more or less complete devitrication, in which state, it becomes impossible to work the glass at all. It will ,ths be seen that when glass that is oldunder-heat is moved into the working chamber', and to the machines it has an extra strong tendency to stagnate and completely to devitrify, 4

as the lower temperatures in the working 4chamber offer increasingly favorable conditions for maximum rate of crystal growth. This causes [arr endless list vof troubles in working the glass v and completely destroys any hope of obtaining continuous homogeneity thereinwhen stagnation is permitted to occur.

f Changes in batch composition either intentionalor due to errors in weighing out materials, imperfect mixing, subsequent separation of the mixed batch during handling and/or conveying, 1 or variations in, the chemical and/or physical characteristics of the raw` material will also change the selection and stratification in the furnace. Changes in the composition, rsize and amount of c ullet fed with the mixed batch will also have similar effects. Even the method of chargingthe batch as to the size of the batch piles and the consequent ldepth to which their submerged portions iioat in the glass batch will affect the selection and stratification in the furnace.

The method and control of firing with resulting presence or absence of localized convection and eddy currents in the glass and the type and temperature of flame as to degree of luminosity, and consequent proportion of loss of its heatl to the glass by deep penetrating radiation, as opposed to conduction and convection, also is a considerable factor.

Indeed, the very complexity and number of theI factors involved have undoubtedly prevented the earlier complete and satisfactory solution of the serious problems presented.

The present invention overcomes these diiiiculn ties by anew and useful furnace design and it is among the objects thereof to provide a melting and refining chamber lhaving a deliberately selected depth adjacent a throat aperture such that 'a supply or reservoir of glass of the temperature 60y desired for `working will be made available for passage through said throataperturel to a working chamber..

A further-object of the invention is the recognition and satisfaction of the law, that a viscous liquid, of constant viscosity under a constant head pressure, will iiow at a definite constant velocity through an aperture of definite cross sectional area and denite length, "by the provision of a throat aperture or apertures having a total resistance (as to cross sectional area and length) to glass ow, such that under-normal furnace and temperature conditions, and at the maximum rate of production for Awhich the furnace is designed, glass at' the desired working temperature of production under the pressure of the minimum working head incident to such'r'ate of production, which will insure that substantially no glass of a higher than the desired working 'temperature (and consequently from a higher level than that of the upper edge of the throat aperture) will ow through said throat aperture:

A further object of the invention is the provision of a Working chamber that is in no sense a refining chamber, settling chamber, or cooling chamber but that is of dimensions that are at a minimumlcompatible with proper ilow space to the glass working machinery, thus providing minimum opportunity for stagnation' and/or, cooling; and which shall preferably be as thoroughly insulated against heat losses as is practicable, in order'to insure that active glass iow may be maintained adjacent the furnace blocks.

A further object is the provision for regulating and retarding the heat loss from the furnace bottom at the steps or stages under that part of the furnace responsible for4 producing and maintain. Y ing the reservoir of working temperature glass' for, the purpose' of raising and/or varying the temperature of the glass in said reservoir section at a considerable depth.l

A further object is the provision of a terraced bottom as an additional safeguard of homogeneity and to prevent the formation of the terrace glass under the batch blanket as previously described with its resultant tendency to advanced age-ider-heat, slow progression toward the. throat'aperture, and pollution of the active glass stream, especially after heated shut-downs..

A further object 'is the provision of an extension of the throat lintel into the working cham-v ber, where design permits, in order to bring the active channel or channels adjacent the insulated front wall of the working chamber whereby the rising glass stream entering the working chamber will have to flow under any descending stream of cooler glass caused byconvection adjacentthe opposite wall, insuring thorough mixing and promoting homogeneity.v v

A further object ofthe invention is the provision of a ow step to further safeguard against stratified owthrough the throat itself when the proposed "production rate necessitates a/ design vproviding maximum throat width and also a throat height approaching 12" to get sufiicient cross sectional area.

Still a further =object of the invention is the adjustment ofjresistan'ce to ow. f-

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent. from a consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part herebf in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken longitudinally of a recuperative type. glass melting tank and working chamber. embodying the principles of this invention; l

Figure 2 a top plan view thereof; i

Figure 3 a detailed view of a portion of the roof of herecuperator structure; y

1 Figure 4 an enlarged detail of the extreme right hand lower corner of the glass melting tank illus- (trating the louver arrangement of the wall for i a purpose to be hereinafter stated.;

Y Figure 5 a top plan view of a valve block employed .invl the iiowP channel, to the working chamber.; 'i

. ings is a chamber adapted for the drawingof the glass through .a debiteuse block 25 into a ver` ying chamber 22 .is provided with overflows 28 r Figure 8 is a horizontaljcross-section taken 5 alongthe line VIII-VIII, Figure 1.

With reference to the several gures of the drawings, the structure therein illustrated comprises a glass melting tank having a staggered r or stepped hearth or bottom wall consisting of l0 the blocks I, 2 and 3, an end wall 6 and ai crown 1, the/tank being. shown as of the doublecrown type having an inner crown- 8 Lwhich extends downwardly in the direction of the surface of the glass to direct the products of combustion and l5 to further provide a waste gas passage 9 leading to a recuperator IIJ.

The recuperator is constructed of suitable refractory tile I2 which forms vertical fines or passages I3 and horizontalpassages I4, the passages 20 I3 extending from the upper distributing chamber II to a bottom chamber I5 from whichvthe waste gases are exhausted through a Adamper regulated blower I6.

'Ihe horizontal passages I4 are air passages 25 which communicate with a blower I'I,- also damper regulated, to control the amount of. air entering the recuperator, such air passing back and forth horizontally and upwardly in a vertical y direction into the combustion chamber I8 Where 30 with a working chamber designated by the ref- 40 erence charactel` 22 which'chamber is of relatively small capacity and is insulated against heat loss by suitable means such as refractory tile blocks 23 having air spaces 23-a and 23-b -i'n the region of 'the passages 24. Y Chamber 22 45 communicates with the meltingchamber of the tank byone or more .throats or passages 24 in the bridgewall 24-aadjacent\the bottom I' of the tank. 'Ihe bottom of .the working chamber 22 is provided with a shoulder 22-a constituted by an 50 extension of the throat lintel into the working chamber vto direct the ow of the glass .from

lthroat 24 against the outer wall 23--c.

The working chamber illustrated in the drawtical housing 26 throughvhich the glassJis passed in sheet form and properly annealed. The workadjacent the level of the -debiteuse block 25 to constantlyl draw.,off glass adjacent working surface to prevent stagnation` and devitrication around block 25 wherenormal machine operation does not move the glass andthe overflow 65 wilk supplyicullet lwhile maintaining th circulation.' Movable blocks-24-b may be provided to vary the resistance of the throat or throats t0 glass-flow, and thus to control the rate of glass flow into the working chamber. e 70 Al dog house 21, Figure 2, is provided at therear end of the melting tank for feeding batch material into theA tank and peep holes 29 and 30 are provided in the side wall of the melting tank. Burner ports 3| are provided in the working 75 chamber at the upper part thereof to apply heat around the upper refractory material to maintain it at substantially the temperature of the working glass. Y

The bottom l of the melting chamber and the adjacent blocks 2 and `3 of the melting chamber are partly` provided with .a louver arrangement 32 more clearly shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, the louver arrangement structure comcan be opened or closed to vary the rate of heat radiation from` the refractory material thereby getting a temperature control at the critical zone,

of the glass. v

As shown by dotted lines 4, 4' in Figure 1 the entire tank bottom may befstepped to vary the I depth of the glass in accordance with the thickness or bpacity of the batch material as indicated by dotted lines 5, 5'. Y

'I'he operation of the above described l,apparatus is briefly as follows:

fThe batch material is fed house 21 to rear end ofthe meltingcharnber onto i the glass contained in the tankv above the region of block 4', rrhe ring characteristics are regulated by means of the air blower I1 and the burners I9 to obtain the desired melting temperature in the melting chamber, and byl means of 'the exhaust blower I6, the products of combustion from the burner port -I8 will be drawn forward across` the top of the glass in the tank, and on account of the downwardly depending character ofl the inner crown 8, the heating flame will be f directed to the surface of the batch material on the glass in the tank. The waste gases will be drawn through theI flared passages into the recuperator chamber Il from which they will pass downwardly through the tubes I3 and exhaust4 at I6.'

One of the features 'of the tankis the elimination of the so-called terrace glass -which is caused by the shading of the batch material 5, 5

oh top of the molten glass in thetank. For exl ample, the batch material will be the thickest adjacent the dog house where it is fed into the glass tank and this portion of the pool is made particularly shallow lso that the heat will not have to penetrate any 4great distance to maintain the I moltenglass below the batch at such temperature as to prevent stagnation anddevitrification.' As

the batch flows Vina forward direction, its chemical changeand higher temperature renders it less and less opaque and Aits shading effect is reduced so that the portion of the tank; which it 'covers may be made somewhat deeper than thef initial depth, this being dore by the use ofthe step blocks 2, 3 and 4. f As the batch travels still further, the materials will be meltedl and the opacity will be still less so that gradually increasing ,depth of glass maybe maintained without producing stagnant glass at the bottom of the tank, and this is particularly` important incons'idering any heated shut-downs to which the tanks are ,subjected at which time no batch material is usually fed into the tank.. In such a case, when all the batch is4 melted, the shading effect will be eliminated, resulting in the bottom glass (formerly shaded by the batch) being heated to such temperatures (in a tank o uniform depth) as tov cause its displacement toward the working chamber ofthe tank with the result that -when the operations are subsequently continued, this old-` under-heat ,glass will pass into the working `chamthrough the dogv v ducts.

prising hinged shutter-like members 33 which ber 'resulting in inferior and unusuable prod- Sincethe glass along the entire bottom of the terraced heartlf is of substantially the same viscosity and temperature the elimination of the shading eiect ofthe batch blanket, and consequent elevation of temperature of the bottom glass formerly thereunder can have n o bad ef fects, since this glass has not been allowed to remain cool to the point of stagnation and excessive age-under-heat. f

The melting chamber of the tank is so de-. igned as to depth that the portion of the glass between the upper level of the y.block 3 and the bottom of block 2 is of the proper working tem- 15v perature and viscosity and the provision of the flow step by lowering block l assures that all the glass flowing into the throat or Apassage 24 will be at'the proper working temperature and viscosity provided, of courseL that the resistance of ow 20 through the passage 24 is such that the flow cannot vexceed the rate at which glass of the desired temperature is accumulated above the block 2. i'

By means of the Ilintel 22-a, the iiow to pas- 25 sage 24 is conducted against the outer wall 23-e and thence upwardly into the working chamber so'that any glass that may'cool and tend to return downwardly, due to convection as indicated by the arrow willr have to do so adjacent the 3o inner wall and will thus descend on top of the incoming warmer glass of the passage 24, causing it to be reconditioned and recirculated to prevent stagnation and devitriflcation.

lBy means of the overflow lmembers 28 provided adjacent the working surface of the glass, the glass at the top portion of the working chamber is continuously drawnv off from around the sides'of the debiteuse block and s uch overflow Y forms useful vcullet and further assures that there 43 will be no stagnant-glass formed between the debiteuse block andthe side walls of theworking chamber, which ordinarily requires frequent shut-clowns for the removal 'of the devitrifled at maintaining temperatures, or reheatlng to proper temperatures by meansof burners or other heating means, e

It desired ,they movable blocks 24-b may be adjusted to constrict theA flow passage trom the throat 24 to the interior of the working chamber butthe normal design of the working chamber contemplates ,that the glass passing to the throat 24 be directed against the wall 2tc of the chamber. y u

By this provision, the. glass being circulatedI within the working chambe'requires no heating means as-.the heating-)would be very difficult 4in view of the fact that the heat' from the burnersv 3| yat the top would not ordinarily penetrate the glass a very great distance below its surface. n j I` A By adjusting the louvers33 below the reservoir 75 f step of block z, and the now step of block l, 1t l is possible to obtain a temperature variation of the refined glass before it enters thethroat of passage v24 thereby effecting some correction in `case the glass is not of the exact temperature l at which it is desired to have it enter the'working chamber. l

Another importantfeature of .the invention is the isolation of the working chamber andthe finished glass from the melting chamber atmosphere to avoid surface adsorption of alkaline furnace gases by the nishedproduct thereby eliminating the stains or vso-called iridescence, the prevention of which has heretofore required that the product be rwashedwith acid (a ,costly procedure) to neutralize the alkaline surface.

`It will be evident 'from the foregoing description of this` invention that by providing forgre- ,moval from the melting chamber of glass adjacent the bottom of said chamber exclusively,

` the horizontal component of motion toward the working chamber of the top strata of glass in the melting chamber is reduced to a minimum,-

resulting in more effective heat adsorption and a more nearly Vertical sinking of the glass upon getting rid of the seed, in direct opposition to the tendency of the seed to rise vertically. This provision also establishes a heat reservoir in the This furnace design thus utilizes the entire volvurne yof the glass bath in the melting process instead of mainly the top surface area as heretofore, for the reason that the glass is constantly drawn upon from 'the bottommost stratum exclusively. The furnacedesign is'further effective in saving fuel as an alternate to increased melting capacity, since the working glass isfbeing drawnentirely from levels that already exist and which are already kept at the proper temperature. l y l l Although the invention Ahas been features in .connection witha melting 4tank having a stepped hearth, it will be obvious to those skilled in the 'art that it is equally applicable to a flat bottomed hearth, although perhaps less effective,

when so applied. I

We claim as our invention:

\ 1. A glass melting and working apparatus comprisig a melting chamber having `an expanded rened glass accumulating areajand a working chamber having a bridge wall therebetween, a throated passage through said bridge .wall at the bottom of said area and working chamber and establishing communication therebetween,v said throated passage having a total resistance to the glass flow so that the normal rate of flow of glass d rawn therethrough shall be no greater than the 1 desired rate of flow of the glass at'the viscosity and temperature at which it accumulates adjal cent the(b'ottom ofthe bridge wall in the melting chamber.

2. Apparatus for4 melting and working glass one or morethroated passages extending. therethrough at the bottom of said melting and work- -ing chambers, the hearth of said melting cham- `establishing communication between said cham- 30 ber having a normal depth portion andan abnormal depth portion forming a well for accumulating refined glass at desired working temperatures and viscosity adjacent the bridge wall at the bottom thereof, and said throated pas- 1 sage being of such area that the resistance to the desiredrate of flow of the glass drawn therethrough shall not be in exces/s 4of the normal rate of flow for the viscosity of the glass. contained in the bottom of said wall.

3 Apparatus for melting and working glass comprising a melting chamber, a working chamber, a bridge wall dividing said chambers having a throated passage extending therethrough at the bottom thereof to establish communication between said chambers, means extending into said passage and adapted for adjustment tp vary- 20 resistance to flow of the glass to the working chamber, and means beneath the melting chamber and passage for regulating the working temperature of the glass before and as it passes'nto said passages to the working chamber.

prising in' combination a melting chamber and a working chamber, a bridge Wall dividing said chambers, and aplurality of throated passages bers through said bridge wall at the bottom thereof, said throated passages having adjustable flow resistance-relative to each other to regulate the'v glass flow so that the glass 'flow therethrough will not exceed the normal rate ofilow at the 35 working temperature and viscosity Aof the glass adjacent the bottom of the melting tank.

- y5. Themethod of melting and selecting desirterials feeding end to gradually vseparate the melt- `ing materialsand the melted portions thereof by precipitatingthe denser melted and refined portions toward the bottom of the pool, howing -the melted glass from the tank outlet to aworking tank, maintaining substantially uniform melting temperature throughout the varying depth of the glass pool, and regulating the tem-- perature of. the rened metal in the working tank independent of the temperature of the melting raw materials )to coincide with qa desired temperature.

6. In the process of delivering glass from the refining area of a glass melting furnace to the working chamber, the steps which consist of delivering refined homogeneous glass to the working chamber by withdrawing it from the melt` ing chamber at the Vdepth at whichthe viscosity and temperature of the glass corresponds to that th furnace. f

at which it is worked, and, withdrawing the refined glasslat such rate of flow that the vom-'65 metric. displacement of the glass` between the meltingfurnace and working chamber is not in excess ofthe norma1 rate of accumulation of thereiined glass at the ratedv melting capacity of ELIsHA `W. PAXTON. ARTHUR w. senr/mp.

25 .4. Glass melting and vworking apparatus com- 

